Mortgage Refinancing Falls as Rates Rise

Washington, DC, June 4, 2008--Mortgage applications fell 15.3 percent last week on lower refinancing activity, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey.

The Refinance Index decreased 25.7 percent and the seasonally adjusted Purchase Index decreased 5.4 percent to 333.6 from 352.7 one week earlier.  The Conventional Purchase Index decreased 6.1 percent while the Government Purchase Index (largely FHA) decreased 3.3 percent.
 
The refinance share of mortgage activity decreased to 40.6 percent of total applications from 46.1 percent the previous week. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity decreased to 8.7 from 9.3 percent of total applications from the previous week.

The average interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages increased to 6.17 percent from 5.96 percent, while the average interest rate for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages increased to 5.7 percent from 5.49 percent.

The average interest rate for one-year ARMs decreased to 6.8 percent from 6.92 percent.